From Hazardous Waste to E-Waste: The Problem of Africa Being the World's Garbage Patch

One of the most important problems of the world society today is environmental problems. It is now generally accepted that the main reasons for these problems are capitalism and the industrialization, urbanization and technological developments it brings with it. The waste and residues created by the production and consumption processes carried out by rich countries that have developed based on capitalism constitute the source of today's ecological crisis. Hazardous and electronic waste (e-waste), which is increasing in our age, especially due to technological developments, has become a fundamental environmental problem that is being tried to be eliminated due to the dangers it poses to our world ecosystem. It should be noted that developed countries, which are the main source of these wastes, send this type of waste to poor countries and especially African countries. This study, which is a compilation and description, draws attention to the problems caused at the local level by toxic and e-waste exported from developed countries to African countries; but at the same time, based on the basic principles of ecology, it tries to reveal that transporting/disposing of toxic and e-wastes from one part of the world ecosystem to another cannot be a method of getting rid of these wastes.